. . . and Gone Again

So I'm blogging from Grand Junction now. We've had an interesting few days, including a trip to the hospital in Glenwood Springs on our way over the mountain due to some preterm labor. Tim very nearly panicked when we started timing my contractions in Glenwood Canyon and they were only two minutes apart! We called our doctor's office back home and were directed to the nearest hospital. The doctor even called ahead to let them know we were coming. About four hours later they released me after giving me some drugs to slow down the contractions. Looks like baby is trying to force her way out a little early, though, as I was about a fingertip dilated, 50-75% effaced and baby was at station 0 as of Wed. night. Hopefully we can convince her to stay in there for at least a couple more weeks, but I don't know if I'm going to make it to my due date in 5 weeks.
We've spent the last couple days hanging out at the hospice center with Chrisann, Tim's mom, and the family. Unfortunately I have to report that Chrisann's health is declining and the end should be fairly near. She was awake and alert when we were with her Thursday afternoon, but since then has been mostly unresponsive. I'm glad we made it in time to have that afternoon with her, though. We are unsure of how long we will be here; there's really nothing we can do now but wait and pray. God has a plan and a timing for all of this. It may not be all that convenient for us and we may not understand it, but there's nothing we can do but trust in him. He is a good and gracious God.

Home for Now

So much has happened since our last post on Easter Sunday! I'm not really even sure where to begin. On April 13th my beloved dad passed away, ending his very short battle with cancer. On the 17th, instead of celebrating at his wedding, we attended his funeral in Billings, Montana. That whole trip to Montana was very challenging and I still find every day a little challenging as things so often remind me of him and how much I miss him. I suppose it will be that way for quite a while. Maybe forever. Tim has been to Grand Junction and back twice since then and has gotten to spend some good time with his mom. She's a fighter and we're praying that she can hang on long enough to meet our little baby girl, which is her #1 goal at this point. We also made another trip to Montana in there for a baby shower. While Baby and I were showered with love and gifts, Tim helped my step dad, Ernie, move all the furniture out of my dad's house. How fun for them.
Yesterday we attended our day-long birthing class. Although we were dreading it somewhat, we actually kind of enjoyed it. It's nice to have fewer unknowns as D-day (Tim's name for it) gets closer and closer. I'm 34 weeks now, so it shan't be too long. We feel pretty well prepared, though. The nursery is basically done, and we really have more than we need in order to be able to sustain a baby.
Today was a beautiful day and we got a little work done in the yard. It felt good to be out in the sunshine.
I'm posting a few pictures, but they're not really in order. Sorry they're not placed very well. I haven't quite figured out the best way to post pictures yet.

The crib is set up and ready to go! Now the cats think it should be their bed. :P We got really cute bedding from my sister.

More nursery pictures.
Here are a couple pictures from my baby shower in Fort Collins. The girls made very cute decorations and as one of the games all the attendees had to team up and design onesies for Little Miss. They were very cute.

My sister and I as we are heading in for my dad's vigil at St. Bernard's Cat

holic Church. Many jokes were made about our identical bellies.

(below) Uncle Tim with our nephew Cameron at the little birthday party we had for him in Montana. He turned three on the day of my dad's funeral. We had ice cream cake and watched him open some presents (he didn't care much for the clothes - just the cars and trucks). Cameron loves his Uncle Tim.